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Friday, June 26, 2009

Paul McCartney Makes Statement On Death Of Michael Jackson

Paul McCartney has released a statement on the death of his former collaborator Michael Jackson, who passed away June 25.

"I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael. He was a massively talented boy man with a gentle soul. His music will be remembered forever and my memories of our time together will be happy ones," the message reads.

In the 1980s, the pair worked together on the single "Say Say Say" and "The Man," which appeared on McCartney's Pipes Of Peace solo record, and later collaborated for Jackson's Thriller album, with McCartney guesting on "The Girl Is Mine."

Their friendship ended in 1985 after Jackson outbid a joint effort by McCartney and Yoko Ono to buy the rights to over 200 Beatles songs - 10 years later, Jackson sold half his stake to Sony.

He earned millions of dollars a year through owning the rights to the remaining tracks, the catalogue being his main source of income after recent financial troubles. Reports earlier this year suggested that Jackson had planned to leave the rights to McCartney in his will.

Jackson was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering what is believed to be a cardiac arrest at his home. A team of doctors tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him for more than an hour before he was declared dead.